


The Naming of CAT and Other Scene's

by Ceala (DecemberWine)



Series: CAT'S Universe [2]
Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-27
Updated: 2011-01-27
Packaged: 2017-10-15 03:23:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/156526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecemberWine/pseuds/Ceala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 2 of the 'CAT UNIVERSE' series.  Three short peek's into Michael and Brian's life together in their new home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Naming of CAT and Other Scene's

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second entry in the CAT UNIVERSE. It was originally written as a Christmas gift for another writer in the fandom.

SCENE 1 - HOMECOMING

Brian Kinney was a happy man. Of course, you probably could find those who believed it was not possible for Brian Kinney to be happy. They would be wrong. Even more surprising was the fact that he was also contented. Now that was unusual. Even Brian was surprised at the feeling. He had never expected to experience contentment in his lifetime. The reason for his happiness and contentment was coming up on the right.

Brian had devised a small routine of his own the last few weeks which seemed to enhance the feelings of happiness and contentment. First, he pulled slowly into the big wide flagstone driveway watching out for bikes, trikes and assorted livestock. Then, he grabbed his briefcase and walked up the small path from the driveway to the wide, welcoming front steps and the lovely old porch that reached all the way across the front of the house.

He paused for a brief second when he got to the front door. Michael had been so right about this door. It looked as though it had been welcoming folks into the big old house for years and years. When Brian turned the lovely rubbed brass handle and stepped inside, his ritual was complete. He was safe. Nothing could touch him here. He could be himself, enjoy the adulation of his children, the love and care of his partner; hell, he even got a kick out of CAT coming to greet him.

There was complete silence.

What the hell! He was home; where were his children, his mate and his cat. He knew damn well he was in the right house. After all, he’d spent a fortune making sure there was nothing like this house anywhere in Pittsburgh. Michael had made it home before him, (he always called Michael just before he left Kinnetic to see who would be home first) so there should be sounds from the kitchen and good smells. Even if they were going to order in, there should be the smell of the vanilla candles that Michael loved. Brian bought them for him by the dozen just to make sure he always had some on hand. There were the smells of baby lotion which they still used on Jenny’s delicate skin, Hunter’s cologne and the pungent odor of the paints that Gus used on the little models he loved to build. Tonight, there was nothing.

Wait! He was getting something but what the heck was that? It smelled like WET FUR! WET FUR in his million dollar home. Brian vaguely heard sounds coming from the second floor. He dropped his case by the front door and took the stairs two at a time. When he got to the top landing, he could hear definite noises coming from…his left. His bedroom; his and Mikey’s. He headed down the hall, entered the bedroom and still found nothing. He went on through the large room and into the beautiful master bath attached to the suite. Well; he’d found his family all right; all of them.

Brian was trying to process the scene. It wasn’t easy. His cat, covered in what appeared to be a cross between green plaster-of-paris and green frosting was sitting on a stool next to the big claw foot soaker tub in the middle of the room. His long plumy tail was hanging down into the tub and it looked as though Hunter, Brian’s nineteen year old step son, was trying to drown the tail with their hand shower attachment.

Gus was picking gobs of the green goop off one side of CAT while Jenny Rebecca was working on the other. Michael was sitting on the floor in front of CAT with a basin of water and a couple of their ridiculously expensive wash-cloths and he appeared to be trying to wash the cat’s face. Brian felt the occasion called for some sort of momentous pronouncement on his part but all he could come up with was “What the FU……..? UH, I mean…what’s going on here?”

Michael looked over his shoulder and even in the midst of the general chaos and destruction, he felt his heart leap at the sight of the man he had loved and adored for so long.

“Hey baby, you’re home.”

“Obviously, although this wasn’t quite the homecoming I was expecting. Care to let me in on whatever this is and what the hell is that crap all over CAT?”

“Language Bri; remember little ears are listening. It seems that Mrs. Nolan, our next door neighbor, went out shopping today and dropped in at the beauty supply house before she headed home. The sales attendant made her a great deal on a new product; a hair pack you mix into a paste and apply.”

Jenny looked up at Brian with those killer brown eyes that were the spitting image of her daddy’s and said, “Daddy Bri, she said it would make hair real smooth and shiny and it would be glassy.”

Before Brian could ask for some clarification, Gus popped up and said, “I think you mean glossy Jenny Penny.”

Brian felt the light bulb go off over his head. He bent down and looked at Jenny’s flushed, tearful face and could not be mad at her no matter what. “So you thought, you would put the pack on CAT and make him smooth and shiny and glossy. Is that it, baby girl?”

“Uh huh. But I guess Carol and I didn’t mix it right because it just got hard and stuck in his fur.”

He looked at Michael trying desperately not to laugh out loud. Michael sighed and said, “We figure they used a cup from their tea set instead of an eight ounce measuring cup of water to mix the stuff up. At least I know what to use for emergency patches when Ma’s sidewalk cracks again this winter.”

Brian knew he was perilously close to losing it so he turned to leave the bathroom. Hunter glared at him and said, “Hey dude? Are you just gonna walk off and leave us here?”

Brian managed to hang on to his laughter long enough to assure Hunter he was just going to change out of his $3,400 Dolce-Gabbana suit and then he would give them a hand.

He returned to the bathroom in jeans and his usual white t-shirt to find that not much had been accomplished in his absence.

“You know, his tail looks the closest to normal so far. I think if we put him in the tub in warm water, we can probably get the rest of the crap off him faster and easier.”

Michael looked at his husband and said, “You could be right. Even though cats aren’t supposed to like water, he doesn’t seem to be too concerned with the fact that his tail is soaked to the skin. Maybe he would let us try.”

They filled the big iron tub with nice warm water, added half a bottle of baby shampoo and Brian carefully started to lower the huge animal into the water. Michael almost caused him to have a heart attack when he yelled at him to stop, just as he almost had the hind quarters in the water. But Mikey just wanted to put a bath towel in the bottom of the tub in case his paws slipped on the slick enamel of the tub. Brian held his breath waiting for the enormous animal to eviscerate him but nothing happened except CAT put his front paws on the side of the tub and just sat there. Jenny and Gus wound up stripping down to their skivvies and climbing into the tub with CAT. With ten hands working at the globs of goop, CAT was rapidly restored to his former, dry glory. It wasn’t quite the homecoming Brian had envisioned but as laughter and jokes rang out through the house, he knew he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The following Saturday, Tracy stopped over to have lunch with them. CAT was lying in a pool of sunlight in the middle of the floor. Tracy stopped to stroke him and tell him how gorgeous he was. She did not understand why everyone became hysterical. All she said was, she’d never seen his fur look so shiny and glossy.

SCENE 2 – FAMILY DINNER

It was a source of on-going amusement that Michael Novotny could not cook. All during his teen years and twenties, his cooking skills were practically non-existent. He didn’t really need to cook of course; his mother was the story book Italian female. It didn’t matter what happened, Debbie Novotny knew food would make it better.

And then there was his Uncle Vic. He had been a brilliant chef; he himself said his black bottom cakes were legendary. So Michael simply did not put himself out to learn to cook. He did better during his marriage to Ben but that was because of Hunter. Ben was into holistic eating and brown rice and tofu and Hunter…well Hunter was a growing teenager and believe me, tofu did not ring his chimes. So Michael learned to put together a salad and bake some potatoes. He could burn a hamburger or steak with the best of them and that pretty much covered the bases.

When Brian and Michael became a couple, a side of Michael no one had ever seen before came into full bloom. From the moment he’d laid eyes on Brian at the tender age of fourteen, Michael Novotny had one major reason for living; to care for Brian. He protected him, he praised him, he kept him human and sane and did everything in his young power to offset the horrors of Brian’s home life. He gave Brian his home, his mother, his uncle Vic and above all; his unconditional love. It was not easy and there were times when Michael wanted to buy back his introduction to Brian Kinney and forget he’d ever known him. But one day a miracle happened.

For years, Brian had interfered and broken up every single serious relationship Michael had attempted to have. His reasoning was sound; no one was good enough for Michael. He was so much better than everyone else that he was bound to get his heart broken when he realized how inferior his choices were. David Cameron had been a wake-up call and had almost taken Michael away from Brian. Professor Benjamin Bruckner had claimed Michael’s heart and had fulfilled Brian’s prophecy to the letter. He was not good enough for Michael and he probably would have broken Michael’s heart except…Brian didn’t give Michael a chance to grieve over what might have been. Ben packed and moved out one afternoon and Brian was in their marriage bed that night.

He knew he wasn’t good enough for Michael but it had taken him years to realize that even if he wasn’t, neither was anyone else and at least he knew how to make Michael happy.

Michael Novotny was a loving, caring human being and once he had the man of his dreams safely in his bed, his arms, (his body) he rose to the occasion and became the nurturer he was born to be. Michael gave Brian the one thing he’d never had in his entire life. He gave him a home. He filled it with beauty and laughter and kids and a cat and good food and Brian thrived.

I’m telling you all this because these are things Brian had been pondering for several weeks. People always say the kitchen is the heart of the home. Of course in the Kinney household it had been the liquor cabinet but certainly in the Novotny residence it had been the kitchen and it was the same way in the Kinney-Novotny household. Everyone was in the kitchen getting ready for dinner. Michael, Hunter and Gus were working on dinner while Brian and Jenny were safely out of the way sitting at a long marble counter. They were close enough to snag a bite every now and then but not in any danger of being called on to participate.

Brian was teaching Jenny how to play jacks. He’d found them in an antique store belonging to his latest client and bought them for his baby girl. He was amazed to discover that no one else in the house knew what the heck jacks were or how to play them.

Melanie and Lindsay were raised too high brow to get down on the sidewalk and play with them so of course they never taught Gus or Jenny. Michael was an only child and had no close female relatives and Hunter…well Hunter had been put out to work the streets when he was a kid by his cunty mother. (Brian hoped the bitch rotted in hell) Brian knew about jacks because his sister Claire had played jacks with her little girl friends and he’d picked it up from her.

While Brian was teaching Jenny the intricacies of ‘onesies’ he was also pondering the odd dynamics going on in his family and his kitchen. Jenny was Michael’s biological daughter and she was playing with Brian. Gus was Brian’s biological son and he was cooking with Michael. Throw in Hunter who was related to no body and he was moving between Michael and Gus with complete ease and no one was getting in anyone’s way and dinner was getting closer and closer to getting on the table. How did it happen that Michael, Gus and Hunter who had no connection what-so-ever all loved to cook and were innately good at it?

Michael was putting together the basics of the meal. Hunter had made a squash, onion and sausage vegetable dish and was just pulling it out of the oven to spread handfuls of grated cheese on top before putting it back under the broiler for a few minutes. Gus was working on desert. He had made cookies with dried cherries, coconut and chocolate chips. If they tasted even a third as good as they smelled, Brian was going to be spending a lot more time at the gym in the next few weeks.  
Now, he was carefully putting a scoop of ice cream on one cookie and topping it with another to make an ice cream sandwich. Brian really hoped his family loved him enough to put up with the blimp he was going to become if he kept on eating the food they prepared for him.

The food was on the table, hands were washed and everyone was seated. They all smiled at each other and then joined hands and were silent just for a few seconds. It wasn’t grace or a prayer or anything like that. It was just an acknowledgement that they were together and a family. Brian decided it didn’t matter who belonged to whom. They all belonged together.

SCENE 3 – THE NAMING OF CAT

 _But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,  
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,  
Else how can he keep his tail perpendicular,  
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?  
The Naming of Cats by t s Elliot_

If I’ve given you the idea that Michael and Brian and their kids lived a fairy-tale life with no problems what-so-ever, that is of course, not true. Everyone has problems and they had their fair share but considering the emotional roller-coaster their lives had been since they both turned thirty, this seemed to be a ride in the park. The two men had hit some high highs and some really low lows during the 24 years they had known each other but if you asked them now; they would both agree it was all worth it.

Michael was a natural born worrier and it worried him that they didn’t have more to worry about. In fact, once the house was renovated, the only thing left on his list of main worries was a name for their cat. It was his theory that everyone was so traumatized by hearing the huge animal referred to as ‘Snookums’ (including the cat) that no one was able to give the subject the time and effort it deserved. For months after he joined their family, they had tried. Carl Perkins, the reporter who did the original story on the Vic Grassi house had even tried to get them to let him start a new contest to select a name for the cat but Brian refused so violently, the subject was never raised again.

The name selection had done wonders for getting their house completed. The various trades’ people had spent many happy hours thinking up names and trying them out on the big animal but he vetoed everyone. There had been a moment when they thought maybe…

One of the flagstone setters had suggested ‘Sebastian’ and the cat had paused and listened closely to the sound of the name. Then he’d turned and strolled off to his tree house and that was the end of that.

By now, another worry was moving up to number one on Michael’s list. They were going to have their first Christmas party in their new home and he wanted it to be something people talked about for years afterwards. Brian wanted to hire decorators and have the affair catered; Michael was determined to do it all himself. Of course, no one ever ignored Michael when he let out one of those deep sighs and looked at his family with those big, beautiful eyes. They all got sucked in and for weeks now Brian’s life had been wreaths and Christmas balls and long dinner discussions about whether they should decorate in one or two colors or have a traditional Christmas and use every color of the rainbow. The loud ‘YESSS’ at the dinner table when he decided that it would be traditional pretty much resigned everyone to the fact that excess would rule the day and it did; to a point.

The thing was, Michael had dreamed almost every square inch of their house and visualized it in his mind’s eye so many times; he had no intention of making it tacky. Their home was like their family; unique, different and pretty damned attractive. Sure there was red, blue, green, purple, gold, silver and a few colors Brian wasn’t sure of but they were all showcased against huge boughs, wreaths and swags of fir and spruce. The overall effect was color, fragrance and warmth.

They were all ready for the big night. CAT was groomed within an inch of his life and he sported a beautiful red plaid bow around his gleaming neck. His bow matched the wide skirt of red plaid taffeta that Jenny was wearing. The rest of the family was a little less colorful.

The house was bulging at the seams. People were obviously having a good time from the attic down to the cellar and some of them had spilled out to the patio where Michael had thoughtfully provided smoking stations complete with big chiminea’s to keep their guests warm.

Michael and Brian were hopping even with Hunter and Debbie helping just trying to keep the buffet table stocked. They had just headed back into the kitchen accompanied by CAT (who considered himself to be in charge of greeting and food supply) to restock the spiral ham platter. There was a huge group of people in the family room playing with the monster flat screen TV mounted on one wall. Michael was sure Hunter had confiscated the remote because the sounds were flipping every second and no one was faster than Hunter when it came to changing channels. He was just about to holler at him to leave it on one channel or at least let their guests do the changing when suddenly CAT turned on a dime and went racing out of the kitchen on a dead run. Brian and Michael looked at each other and then did the same. Something must have happened to one of the kids to make CAT move that fast.

When they got to the den, they found CAT reared up against the long console under the wall mounted screen. He had his paws on the table and appeared to be dancing to the music coming out of the speakers. No one was moving or saying a word; it was an unusual sight. They walked over to their big cat and Michael reached out a hand to caress his big fur tipped ears.

“What’s up CAT? Did you find something you wanted to watch?”

Brian never knew where the idea came from; it just appeared at the front of his brain. “Hey CAT! Did you find your name? Is this what you’ve been looking for?”

The big animal turned toward his humans still standing on his hind paws. He was so big his head was almost above Brian’s belt. He waved his paws in the air and both Michael and Brian moved closer to him. He put a paw on each waist and began to move again to the music pouring out of the TV speakers. Although Brian would not admit it to anyone outside the walls of his home, they all danced with the big cat often. CAT enjoyed music and loved to stand with his paws on their waists and move with them. The three of them began to sway and shuffle in time to the music. Brian figured ‘What the Hell. It’s Christmas. So I’m busted. I like to dance with my husband and my damn cat. So What?’

Many, many years in the future when CAT finally came to the end of his ninth life, his humans would give him the last gift they could; relief from the cancer that ravaged his once huge body. The last thing he would feel would be their arms holding him close. The last sight he would see would be their beloved faces; their eyes blinded by the tears neither man tried to stop. The last sound he would hear would be their voices singing his naming song to him as he slipped away from pain.

But that was many, many years in the future. Tonight he was strong and powerful; not yet in his prime. He stood and he danced with his humans and their cubs while their friends and family sang his naming song at the top of their lungs out into the crisp Pittsburgh night.

“Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, Whatcha gonna do when they come for you. Bad Boy Bad Boy”

That’s right. CAT, or rather Bad Boy, was the baddest cat in the whole damn town (or is that from another song perhaps?).


End file.
